EVERTON WANT CUP

March 12, 2014 |   |  Sports News

Everton defender Leighton Baines has revealed that the club are looking to win the FA Cup for the first time in recent times. Everton have not won a major trophy since the days of David Moyes. The arrival of Roberto Martinez, though, has heralded a new enthusiasm within the club. They have been able to sustain a challenge for the top four positions for most of the season. After having qualified for the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, Everton have set a target of going one better than in recent seasons and actually winning the trophy itself.

The best Everton managed in the last two decades has been reaching the final of the competition when they lost to Chelsea a few years ago. Baines has admitted that the Arsenal match will pose a huge test for the club, but it is one that were planning to come out on the successful side. The England international also says that it is certainly time that the club deserved some success in terms of trophies. Everton have been one of the well-run clubs in England over the years. They have been in the top flight for most of the history.

Everton’s recent visit to the Emirates stadium ended in a 1-1 draw with the gunners.

“You would be a fool to look too far beyond that but there is no denying that we want to win a trophy. We want that in the dressing room and, ultimately, that is the aim. We know the task is a big one but you have to set yourselves targets and that is one of them. We don’t speak about it among ourselves in great detail, but we are all conscious of it. We all know. A lot of us have been here a long time and we know what it means to this football club,” said Baines.

TV PAYS OFF

February 18, 2014 |   |  Sports News

Manchester United could thank the incredible popularity of football on TV for the rise in the second-quarter revenues. The club posted an 11% increase due to better commercial and broadcasting revenue. Manchester United have been going through a tough period since the start of the season.

The appointment of David Moyes to replace Sir Alex Ferguson has not worked exactly to plan. The club find themselves seventh in the table with only 13 matches remaining. Since they trail fourth placed Liverpool by nine points already, they cannot afford any more slipups. Read more

STILL GOING

January 2, 2014 |   |  Sports News

Even at his 37 years of age Francesco Totti is regarded as one of the best players in Serie A even receiving praise from As.Roma’s manager Rudi Garcia who said that the Italian veteran sets the example to his teammates both on and off the pitch.

“I can say that Totti is a simple man, humble,” he told reporters. “He’s never skipped training, he’s never asked for special treatment even though he’s 37. He’s the kind of guy that loves football that is always available. Maybe he’s not a leader in the dressing room. He’s not one of those that shout to motivate the troops but he is appreciated by his team-mates because he’s an intelligent guy.

“And then he’s an example on the field. Having seen him, I said that he’s not only a great player, but he’s simply one of the greatest players in the history of football.”

Totti is a one man club just like Ryan Giggs and Paolo Maldini as they represent everything what their respective club represents. The coach of Italy, Cesare Prandelli said that he would like to have the star of As.Roma available for him during the 2014 World Cup in what probably will be his last one.

Prandelli said: “Before his injury, Totti did great things and proved he deserves a call-up. Then he stopped and is now getting ready for his comeback. We’ll see how it goes, as I am keeping Totti under very close observation.

“I am great friends with Francesco. Before the injury he was playing at a stratospheric level and someone like him always makes the difference. Personally, I would take him to the World Cup.” Prandelli spoke to Sport Mediaset

Totti picked up an injury during As.Roma’s match against Napoli back in October but made a substitute appearance when they battled it out against Ac.Milan and now is getting back to his usual self in the pitch.

BT vs BSkyB

November 22, 2013 |   |  Sports News

The ongoing battle between BT and BskyB for the football broadcasting rights in England is only going to benefit the clubs over there.

BskyB is a well known name in England as they have been ruling the sports market over there since a long time. But, BT is now ready to challenge them. Recently, they have bought the rights of broadcasting the matches of the European competitions in England from 2015 to 2018 by paying a huge amount of 1.44 billion US Dollars. Currently, ITV and BskyB has the rights of broadcasting the European matches and the amount that they pay for that is not even the half of the above mentioned amount.

It’s a big setback for BskyB; that’s for sure. They would have loved to continue as the broadcaster of the European games even after 2015, but, BT beat them with sheer money.

Because of this new BT deal, the English clubs which make it to the Champions League are going to be benefitted a lot. They will get about 10 million Pounds more than what they are getting right now. The teams qualifying for the Europa League will also have the benefits, but, not as much as the Champions League sides.

The sports content has clearly become expensive in the last couple of years and it has been more so in football which is the most popular sport on the planet. So, every sports network wants to have football broadcasting rights and they are ready to pay ridiculous amounts of money for that.

Ed Woodward who is the executive vice-chairman of the Manchester United FC also had the same thing to say when he was asked about this new BT deal.

Woodward said, “The football content is becoming more and more expensive. It’s been the case with every sport, but, in football, it’s more so as this game is immensely popular all around the world.”

GINOLA ON TV

August 29, 2013 |   |  Sports News

David Ginola is one of the well-recognised names in English football. He represented the likes of Newcastle United and Tottenham in a stellar career. The French winger will be making a return to English football, but this time as a presenter. BT have been one of the big entrants to the Premier league this season. They have been able to make a bid of close to £ 1 billion for the televised matches, which is the biggest threat Sky has seen since the inception of the Premier league more than two decades ago. They have already brought in former Manchester United and Liverpool striker Michael Owen as one of the presenters.

Ginola will be joining the striker, who retired from football at the end of last season. The likes of David James are also on the list of the television company, which hopes to become a serious threat to Sky. Sky have seen this threat and have decided to take action by choosing to use their first refusal advantage when it comes to live television matches in the first 20 weeks of the season itself. Sky will be broadcasting most of the Manchester United and Chelsea matches in the first few weeks. Despite this, Ginola and co certainly seem here to stay.

“I am incredibly happy to be joining BT and to be part of the fantastic line-up from the start. I trust that the viewers and sports fans are as excited as I am about this new channel, which promises a different approach to sports broadcasting,” said Ginola. “We are really delighted to have secured David Ginola to be one of our football experts. Every football fan knows that David was one of the most talented players in Premier League history, and he has proved to be one of the most accomplished broadcasters since hanging up his boots,” said BT director, Simon Green.

FOOTBALL MAKES GREAT TV

July 10, 2013 |   |  Sports News

The Confederations cup is proving to be extremely successful according to the latest TV viewing figures released by FIFA. The competition was started in 1992 and it has come a long way since then. It was a four-team tournament back then. There are still two matches left in the competition and it is already the second highest in terms of viewing figures. There was a real danger of the competition being suspended by FIFA due to several protests in Brazil, but the international football committee has decided to go ahead with the tournament and it is proving to be a great success.

The remaining two matches are expected to bring in a lot of viewers especially due to the importance. The third place play-off match between Italy and Uruguay will be followed by the final between Brazil and Spain. As the home team is involved in the final, FIFA has said that it expects record viewing figures for the final. The semi-final between Spain and Italy brought in just over 12.5 million viewers, which is better than the 10 million viewers for the 2010 World Cup semi-final.

The Confederations cup is proving to be incredibly popular in South America due to the involvement of teams like Uruguay and Brazil in the latter stages of the competition.

“FIFA has come out of this stronger. Football has played a positive part here and given emotion. When we say football connects people, it connected people in the stadium, perhaps unfortunately it connected people in the street. I can understand this social unrest, absolutely, but on the other hand, football brings at this time to the whole continent these emotions and hope,” said FIFA president Sepp Blatter after announcing the viewing figures.

Attendances for the matches have also been extremely encouraging according to FIFA.

LIVERPOOL MIGHT MISS OUT

April 25, 2013 |   |  Sports News

Despite the arrival of Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool look set to miss out on the Champions League football for next season. The club are currently seventh in the Premier league table, and they need to make up several points in order to finish in the top four. Rodgers arrived as a replacement for Kenny Dalglish in the summer. He made several changes to the squad by loaning out Andy Carroll and bringing in players like Daniel Sturridge. There have also been other significant signings in the form of Joe Allen. Despite this, Liverpool are yet to finish in the top four after more than four years.

Recently, Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard spoke about the importance of bringing in new players in the summer in the hope of pushing for a top four spot. Rodgers is also of the same opinion, as he is looking at a couple of players to sign in the summer. The players who have been signed by Rodgers has so far turned out to be excellent buys for the club. The likes of Daniel Sturridge and Allen have been in great form for the club this season.

Liverpool also signed the Brazilian midfielder, Coutinho, who has also been in magical form for the club this season.

“We would have liked to bring in a few more players in the summer but we didn’t, and the group were admirable with how they coped in that period because we had a lot of games. We knew we had to bring in reinforcements in January and the board worked superbly to get those players. We are hopeful that come the summer we can make more additions that will take us on to the next level. The business we did in January however was excellent and that’s a great credit to the club,” said Rodgers.

Extra fun for basketball fans

March 11, 2013 |   |  Sports News

Alongside playing fantasy league basketball, slots games like Slam Dunk can be a really good way of mixing basketball and betting – particularly if you support one of those teams like the Bobcats who have seriously long odds to win the actual NBA Championship. Although it is not the only basketball slots game around, Slam Dunk is certainly one of the best ones, because it manages to feature all the best elements of a modern slots game with a basketball theme which is more than window dressing. Read more

LIVERPOOL WIN BUT FALL SHORT

February 27, 2013 |   |  Sports News

Liverpool has defeated the Russian side Zenit Saint Petersburg in a Europa League match played at the Anfield on Thursday. Liverpool won the match by 3-1.

The first few minutes of the match were not that good for Liverpool. The Reds made some terrible mistakes in the initial moments and as a result of that, they got trailed by 0-1 in the 19th minute of the match. But, after conceding that goal, the Reds lifted the level of their game a bit and made a tremendous comeback to win the match by a profound margin.

For this match, Daniel Sturridge and Martin Skrtel were not included in the starting XI of Liverpool and on their places; Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger came in.

On the other hand, there was only one change in the starting line up of Zenit. Aleksandr Kerzhakov went out and on his place, Sergey Semak came in.

The man who took the visitors ahead in the 19th minute was Hulk. This was an awful mistake by Jamie Carragher who tried to back pass the ball to the goal keeper Pepe Reina, but, he failed in placing his shot well. The ball went to Hulk who smashed the ball home.

Zenit’s lead didn’t last long. The Reds got a free kick in the 28th minute and the Uruguayan superstar Luis Suarez was asked to take that free kick. Suarez didn’t make any mistake in latching on that chance. With a flat drive, he sent the ball into the bottom corner of the net and made the score 1-1.

Liverpool took a lead of 2-1 when there were only a couple of minutes to go before the half time break. Enrique got the ball from Henderson and he gave Joe Allen a cross. Allen headed the ball towards the goal post, but, his shot was blocked by the Zenit goalie. Allen again got the ball on the rebound and this time, his shot was on target.

The Reds started the second half in an aggressive manner and it didn’t take them too long to enhance their lead. Luis Suarez took advantage of another free kick that Liverpool got in the 59th minute. The Reds got ahead by 3-1 with that goal and after that, it was a tall order for Zenit. They tried hard and created some chances, but, they failed in scoring any more goals.

Liverpool will lock horns with Wigan Athletic in its next match. That match will be played at the DW Stadium on 2nd of March.